Trump fails in uniting the country, instead politicizing an assassination.

America has a long, painful history of political violence. Again and again, people have been attacked or assassinated not simply for what they did, but for what they said – their speeches, their advocacy, their artistic expression, their willingness to use words to challenge power. And again and again, the nation has looked to its leaders to set a tone in the aftermath. At these moments we need to calm, to unify, to remind everyone that democracy thrives on debate, not blood.

Free speech is a cornerstone of our country. We’ve been a beacon to the rest of the world for our commitment to ensuring freedom of expression.

Larry Flynt, the controversial publisher of Hustler magazine, was paralyzed in a 1978 assassination attempt by a white supremacist who objected to the magazine’s depiction of interracial couples. A decade later, Flynt was sued for libel in a landmark case. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in his favor, reinforcing the First Amendment, even if speech is offensive. Flynt said, “If the First Amendment will protect a scumbag like me, it will protect all of you.”

Yet the list of Americans attacked for their political speech is sobering.

Elijah Lovejoy, an abolitionist editor, murdered in 1837 for printing anti-slavery editorials. Congressman James Hinds of Arkansas shot and killed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1868 for speaking out for Black suffrage. Frank Little, a labor organizer, lynched in 1917 for anti-war speeches.

The 1960s were scarred by politically motivated killings: Medgar Evers of the NAACP, President John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy.

In the 1970s, Dan Bolles, an investigative journalist in Arizona, killed after reporting on corruption; Harvey Milk, a San Francisco county supervisor, assassinated for his advocacy of gay rights.

More recently, in the 2000s, Chauncey Bailey, editor of the Oakland Post, murdered for his investigative reporting. Dr. George Tiller, a physician and outspoken defender of abortion rights, murdered in Kansas.

Democracy thrives on debate, not blood.

Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and 18 others shot at a constituent meeting in Tucson in 2011; Republican Congressman Scott Scalise, one of four people shot at a congressional baseball game in Virginia in 2017. In June of this year, Democratic Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband shot and killed in their home.

The throughline is clear: No matter your political persuasion, words make people targets.

There is a bright side of this history: how presidents have responded. After Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, Andrew Johnson urged “calm and order.” After Kennedy was shot, Lyndon Johnson reassured the country: “Let us continue.” After the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168, Bill Clinton brought the temperature down. After a mass shooting killed nine parishioners in Charleston, Barack Obama literally brought grace – singing “Amazing Grace.”

Sadly, Donald Trump is the dark outlier of American history.

After the Sept. 10 assassination of 31-year-old Charlie Kirk, a controversial conservative organizer, any hope that the president would use the bully pulpit to lower the temperature rather than raise it was blown to smithereens. Trump chose not to unite. Instead, he used the moment to inflame.

He really did say: “We have radical left lunatics out there and we just have to beat the hell out of them.”

He spoke not of healing but revenge. He implied that violence is a natural consequence of political rivalry.

Words matter. And while presidential words cannot stop violence, they can amplify the very violence they should defuse. Trump’s angry response is unprecedented. It’s dangerous.

Political violence in America is not a relic of the past – it is a clear and present danger.

Kirk was provocative, spreading what many considered vile, white supremacist ideology. Despite that, he did not deserve to be killed. No one does.

The essence of democracy is that we agree to disagree – without resorting to force.

Since “The Liberty Song” was written in 1768, we’ve been taught to recognize the power of the principle “united we stand, divided we fall.” That is something we can all rally around, and we must – especially if the president isn’t up to the job.

BRADLEY ZEVE is founder & CEO of Monterey County Weekly and Monterey County Now.